BCCI announces Team India for Bangladesh tour

Mumbai: The BCCI today announced the Team India for upcoming Bangladesh tour where it will play one Test match and three ODIs starting June 10.The announcement was made after the five-member selection panel headed by

India TV Sports Desk [ Updated: May 21, 2015 8:15 IST ]

bangladesh tour harbhajan singh makes a comeback in test team

Mumbai: The BCCI today announced the Team India for upcoming Bangladesh tour where it will play one Test match and three ODIs starting June 10.

The announcement was made after the five-member selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil met here and decided to go with full strength squads for both the one off Test and the three ODIs.

An injured knee forced pacer Mohammed Shami out of the tour and the selectors picked medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni to replace him in the ODI squad. Kulkarni has played only four ODIs so far and has taken 8 wickets.

Harbhajan's inclusion was the lone surprise in the Test side, which would be led by star batsman Virat Kohli after Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from the format in January. Dhoni will, however, lead the ODI squad.

"Harbhajan has been discussed earlier as well. The selection committee has picked Harbhajan due to the strength of Bangladesh batting especially the number of left-handers they have. It was decided that Harbhajan should be there for these reasons. Captain Virat Kohli's opinion was also taken on this," Patil told reporters after the meeting that lasted little over an hour.

Harbhajan last played a Test for India in March 2013 against Australia in a home series. The 34-year-old is the third highest Test wicket-taker for India with 413 scalps to his credit in 101 matches.

Kohli led India in the opening Test against Australia at Adelaide in injured MS Dhoni's absence and then captained the Team in the final Test after the wicketkeeper-batsman retired post the third match in Melbourne in December last year.

The Bangladesh series is a fresh start for India after the 2015 World Cup.

The Indian cricket team will arrive in Bangladesh on June 7 to play lone Test and three One-Day International (ODI) matches. Fatullah's Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium will host the Test from June 10 while all three ODIs will be played on June 18, 21 and 24 in Mirpur.